National military news
Fleet replenishment ....

ARABIAN SEA (Aug. 30, 2019) The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) approaches the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199), right, and the dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE 14) prior to a replenishment-at-sea. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. With Abraham Lincoln as the flagship, deployed strike group assets include staffs, ships and aircraft of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 2, the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7. U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Dan Snow.


Sexual assault victims given new channel during reporting to catch repeat offenders
8/5/2019
From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy will begin implementing the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Catch a Serial Offender (CATCH) program as a means to identify serial sexual assault offenders, Aug. 5.
Participation in the CATCH program is voluntary, and allows a sexual assault victim who files a restricted report to confidentially submit information about his or her alleged offender with the goal of matching similar data from other cases.
When a potential match is identified, a specially-trained CATCH victim point of contact will privately notify the victim and give him or her the option to convert the initial restricted report to an unrestricted report, allowing the victim to participate in the investigation.
Melissa Cohen, director of the Navy Sexual Assault and Prevention Office, said CATCH is a vital step in the mission to end sexual assault. “This is part of a multi-faceted approach aimed at holding offenders accountable,” she said.
Victims of sexual assault should contact their respective Sexual Assault Response Coordinator or Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Victim Advocate to make a report in the CATCH program. CATCH program participants will receive personal, anonymous, and secure login information to electronically enter their information directly into the CATCH database. The victim may decline to participate in the process at any stage, even after being contacted that there was a match to information they provided in CATCH. There will be no adverse consequences if the victim does not agree to participate.
Those eligible to participate in the CATCH program are adult sexual assault victims who have filed a restricted report, including current and former service members and their adult dependents. Naval Academy midshipmen are also eligible for the CATCH program.
For more information on the program, contact the DoD Safe Helpline via phone at 1-877-995-5247 or online at SafeHelpline.org.




SoCal military news

SOUTH CHINA SEA (Aug. 27, 2019) The fleet replenishment oiler USNS Pecos (T-AO 197) approaches alongside the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in preparation for a replenishment-at-sea. Wayne E. Meyer is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Jimmy Ong

PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 20, 2019) Cmdr. Kevin Culver, commanding officer of the dock landing ship USS Comstock (LSD 45) observes a replenishment-at-sea evolution with the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). Comstock is currently underway conducting routine operations. This year, Comstock will participate in the U.S. Navy Fleet Week in Los Angeles. U.S. Navy Photo by MC1 Peter Burghar.

San Diego one of five Tech Bridge sites
Navy establishes ‘Tech Bridges’ to boost agility, collaboration
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - To help the Navy harness technological innovation, James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, recently announced a plan to rapidly expand collaboration with industry by setting up five regional offices around the country.
“Earlier this year, the Naval Expeditions (NavalX) office was stood up to facilitate rapid adoption of proven agility-enhancing methods across the Department,” said Geurts, speaking from the NavalX office. “And today, I’m proud to announce that NavalX, in collaboration with our workforce, has furthered this effort by creating the first five regional ‘Tech Bridges’ across the country to better connect the DON and the private sector.”
These locations are Newport, R.I.; Keyport, Wash.; San Diego; Orlando, Fla; and Crane, Ind.
Partnering with the Office of Naval Research and the Navy’s Systems Commands, NavalX Tech Bridges will connect, reinforce and sustain acceleration ecosystems in off-base locations across the DON enabling greater collaboration with non-traditional partners. Each Tech Bridge will be supported by NavalX and will facilitate project efforts in each region designed to solve hard problems and technology areas identified by Fleet and the DoN workforce.
These Navy Tech Bridges will partner with start-ups, academia, corporations, small businesses, non-profits, and private capital. Additionally, Tech Bridges will serve within the growing ecosystem of DoD innovation groups, providing NavalX greater collaboration capability with Defense Innovation Unit, National Security Innovation Network, Army Futures Command, AFWERX, SOFWERX, and others.
“NavalX works with partners to support collision spaces and generate dual-use solutions,” said Geurts. “These five spaces will lower barriers that traditionally hamper external collaboration. I envision these as the first five, of a great number of tech bridges, to enable the Department of the Navy to achieve its goal of agility at scale.”
The Tech Bridges will operate on a “franchise” model that’ll allow each region to develop their own model to connect to their unique innovation ecosystem.

Future San Diego ship
Navy announces commissioning date for the future USS Cincinnati
From Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs
CINCINNATI, Ohio (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy has approved the commissioning date for the future littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS 20).
The Navy will commission Cincinnati, Oct. 5, 2019 in Gulfport, Mississippi. The commissioning ceremony signifies the acceptance for service and the entrance of a ship into the active fleet of the U. S. Navy.
Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker is the ship's sponsor. As the sponsor, Pritzker leads the time-honored Navy tradition of giving the order during the ceremony to “man our ship and bring her to life!” At that moment, the commissioning pennant is hoisted and Cincinnati becomes a proud ship of the fleet.
Indianapolis, Indiana native Cmdr. Kurt Braeckel is the commanding officer of the littoral combat ship.
Former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced LCS 20 would be named for Cincinnati at the Cincinnati Reds baseball game, July 19, 2015.
LCS 20 will be the fifth ship in naval history to be named Cincinnati. The first played an integral part in the Civil War; the second enforced neutrality laws during the Cuban Revolution and saw service during the Spanish-American War; the third acted as a patrol and flagship during World War II; and the fourth, a Los Angeles class submarine, was commissioned in 1978 and served during the Cold War.
LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions. The LCS class consists of two variants: the Freedom variant and the Independence variant. Indianapolis is a Freedom variant.
The future Cincinnati will be homeported in Naval Base San Diego upon her commissioning.
A fast, agile surface combatant, the LCS provides the required war fighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute a variety of missions; areas such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare.